


i can promise you tomorrow

by gilligankane



Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [2]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: 80's Music, F/F, Mixtape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 12:19:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12035748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilligankane/pseuds/gilligankane
Summary: “You're sure you can't call me tomorrow?” Waverly asks for the fifth time.Nicole sighs heavily, biting down hard on her bottom lip. “Baby-”“I know. I know,” Waverly interrupts. She makes a frustrated noise over the line. “It's just… it's my birthday.”





	i can promise you tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the 80's WayHaught Mixtape 'verse. 
> 
> In honor of Waverly Earp's birthday, here's a present for you (and a present for Waverly). 
> 
> This oneshot takes place during the fall of 1993, Waverly's senior year of college.

**“I’ll Be There For You” Bon Jovi, 1988**  
_I didn’t mean to miss your birthday, baby. I wish I’d seen you blow those candles out._

“You're _sure_ you can't call me tomorrow?” Waverly asks for the fifth time.

Nicole sighs heavily, biting down hard on her bottom lip. “Baby-”

“I know. I know,” Waverly interrupts. She makes a frustrated noise over the line. “It's just… it's my _birthday_.”

“I know,” Nicole says softly. “And if I could call you, baby, I would. But Nedley scheduled this full-day retreat on community response and-”

“I know,” Waverly says wearily.

“But I'll call you the next day, for sure,” Nicole promises. “Scout’s honor.”

“You still have never been a Scout,” Waverly reminds her.

“It's still a promise,” Nicole says, her smile wide. She leans back in her chair and props one booted-foot up on her desk. Across the bullpen, Linda glares. Nicole immediately drops her foot. “Anyway. Tell me what you're doing tomorrow.”

Waverly sighs. “Eliza and Earl and some other people from class are taking me to that bar right off campus.”

“You can drink now,” Nicole reminds her.

Waverly is quiet. “I'm supposed to have my first drink with _you_.”

Nicole bites the cap off a pen and scribbles hard on a loose piece of paper. “We've had a lot of firsts,” she reminds Waverly.

Waverly huffs loudly in her ear and Nicole fights a smile. She can picture Waverly: frowning, her forehead creased, throwing one hand up into the air in frustration. “This is an important first, Nicole.”

“And your first time driving wasn't?” Nicole asks. “Or your first time voting? Or…” She looks around and lowers her voice. “Or your first time at Lover’s Lane?”

" _Nicole_.”

Nicole grins. “No one can hear me.”

Waverly is quiet for a moment and Nicole continues to scribble on her page. “You're _really_ sure you can't call me?” She doesn't wait for Nicole to answer. “I know. I'm sorry. I'll stop asking.”

Nicole lowers her voice, keeping it even. “Baby. I am going to call you first thing Monday morning, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Waverly says quietly. “I just miss you.”

Nicole softens, putting her pen down. “I miss you, too.”

Waverly exhales noisily. “Okay. I’ll talk to you Monday.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Waverly murmurs.

There’s a click and Nicole puts her desk phone back into its cradle, sighing. She balls up the paper she’d been scribbling on and tosses it towards the trash. It hits the edge and teeters before it falls to the floor. Nicole ignores it for a moment, locking her desk drawer and pushing her chair in. She straightens a stack of folders in basket on the corner of her desk, wipes a stray spot of dust off her nameplate, and nods satisfactorily. On her way past the trash, she picks up what she threw and drops it into the basket.

“That girl of yours still think the Sheriff is making us come in for training on a Sunday?” Linda asks, her lips twitching.

Nicole grins. “Worked like a charm. She can’t argue with Nedley.”

Linda shakes her head. “Glad to see you’re finally putting all that saved up time to good use.”

Nicole leans against the counter. “Only a few days. She’ll have class on Monday and I’m not gonna distract her.”

“You two are something else,” Linda mutters. She swats at Nicole’s shoulder. “Well. Get a move on. You don’t keep that girl waiting, you hear me?”

Nicole tips her Stetson. “Yes ma’am.”

“Nicole!”

Nicole turns, a groan building in her throat as Nedley pops his head out around his office door. “Yes, sir?” she asks.

Nedley shifts uncomfortably, his hands at his belt. “Well, uh. I just wanted to tell you to have a safe trip.”

Nicole straightens her shoulders and nods. “Yes, sir.”

“And tell Waverly we all wish her a happy birthday,” he continues.

“Yes, sir.”

“And not to get too intoxicated. Kids these days are driving too fast and takin’ too many chances and-” He stops abruptly, his cheeks red. “Well, just tell her we’re all real proud and we can’t wait to have her come back and move Ole’ Cryderman out of that history department at the high school.” Nedley shakes his head. “Hell, I think he was here before they even incorporated Purgatory.”

Nicole fights a laugh. “I’ll be sure to tell her that, sir.”

Nedley nods. “Good.” He turns and slams the door to his office.

“Sheriff likes you,” Linda says casually.

Nicole waves a hand at her. “He likes everyone.”

Linda shakes her head. “He wouldn’t ever tell Lonnie over there to have a safe weekend.”

Nicole looks across the bullpen at Lonnie and sighs. “No, I don’t suppose he would.”

Linda slaps a hand down on the counter and Nicole jumps. “Get going, girl. It’s already close to closing. It’ll take you hours tomorrow if you don’t get on the road quick.”

Nicole nods and gives Linda a grateful smile as she rounds the counter and heads towards the front door. She slides into her cruiser and rolls down the windows, pushing Queen’s “Innuendo” into the deck.

" _Oh yeah, we’ll keep on trying. Tread that fine line_ ,” she sings.

She’s going to see Waverly tomorrow and nothing can get better than that.

 

-

Nicole whines and pulls away from Wynonna. “Can you just stop it, you basket case? If I don’t get on the road now, I’ll miss her whole damn birthday.”

Wynonna narrows her eyes. “I’m making sure my best friend is _safe_.”

“You’re touching my boobs,” Nicole says flatly.

Wynonna pulls her hands away but grins. “Make sure Waverly knows I got there first today.”

Nicole huffs and tosses her duffle bag through the open driver’s side window, down onto the bench seat.

“You look like Five-O in that uniform,” Wynonna points out.

Nicole looks down at her khakis and her starchy navy button down and her clunky duty belt and shrugs. “It’s just what I put on this morning.”

Wynonna frowns and tugs at the collar of Nicole’s uniform shirt. “You pack enough white shirts?” Wynonna asks. “I know how you like your white shirts.”

“Wynonna,” Nicole growls. “I swear to god, if you-”

“Gassed up?” Gus asks, coming down the front steps of the McCreadys’ house.

Nicole breaks away from Wynonna and reaches for the box in Gus’s arms. “Filled up.”

“You got that map I gave you?”

Nicole sighs. “Yes, ma’am.”

Gus frowns at her, but reaches into the box Nicole is holding and points to a brown paper bag. “I packed you a few sandwiches and there’s a carton of Orange Crush in the trunk.”

Nicole shifts the box under one arm and opens the trunk with the other, grinning at the case of Orange Crush. She puts the box down next to it and winces at the _thud_ it makes. “What is this stuff?”

Gus shrugs. “Waverly asked me to send it to her. Good thing I don’t have to mail it. Woulda cost a fortune.”

Nicole slams her trunk closed and leans an elbow down on it. She picks at a small paint chip on the curve of the back end.

“What about flannels. Did you bring those?” Wynonna interrupts. She dances away a few steps when Nicole makes a half-hearted lunge at her. “And your iron? How’re you gonna get your perfect creases without an iron?”

Nicole lunges for Wynonna again, catching her around the neck. “You can eat my face,” she growls, rubbing her knuckles into the top of Wynonna’s head.

“I bet you’d like that,” Wynonna grits out, digging her fingernails into Nicole’s bare forearm as she tries to wiggle away. “I bet you’d-”

" _Enough_ ,” Gus says, her voice low and commanding. She lifts a hand in a short wave. Nicole follows it across the street, to Mrs. Clearwater, watching them from her front porch. “You two are supposed to be grownups.”

Wynonna shrugs and runs a hand through her hair. She claps her palm down on Nicole’s shoulder. “Don’t get used to the big city, okay? It’s like, hella cool, but the air smells weird and the people don’t get our jokes.”

“I’m going away for a day. _Maybe_ two. Why’re people acting like I’m never coming back?” Nicole asks, throwing her hands up in the air.

Gus pats her gently on the shoulder. “Just come home in one piece.”

Nicole checks her Casio F-91W digital watch and swears. “I gotta jet.” She pulls open her driver’s door and slides into the front seat, twisting the keys in the ignition. The engine roars to life and Nicole grins. Paint chips aside, her car can still ride.

Wynonna drags her fingertips along the window’s edge. “Oh, Pussy Wagon. You beautiful, beautiful piece of wasted machinery.”

Nicole pales. Her eyes skate past Wynonna to Gus.

“What?” Gus asks.

Nicole shakes her head frantically. “Nothing,” she squeaks out.

Wynonna leans in towards the window. “Hey, be honest. Did you ever get Perky Tits in this thing?”

Nicole bites down on her bottom lip. She feels the leather of the seat shift under her and for a moment, she’s 18 again and Waverly is sliding her hands under Nicole’s shirt and pressing their mouths together while the windows fog. “No,” she admits, her voice strangled.

“So only... “ Wynonna pretends to gag. “Barf, dude.”

Nicole unzips her duffel and grabs the cassette sitting on top of her clothes.

“You know compact discs are a thing now, right?”

Nicole shudders. “Not in my car, they aren’t.” She turns the cassette in her hand so Wynonna can read it as she puts it into the deck.

“Waverly’s Love Songs?” Wynonna asks, frowning.

The first track is Kingdom Come’s “What Love Can Be.” Wynonna pretends to gag again, doubling over and falling to the lawn. Gus rolls her eyes and grabs the back of Wynonna’s shirt, pulling her back up to her knees.

“Drive safe!” Gus calls.

Nicole shifts it into reverse and slowly backs down the driveway.

“No funny business when Waverly’s roommate is there!” Wynonna shouts. “Or be polite, and let her watch if that’s your thing.”

Nicole lets one arm hang out of the window, tapping along to the song as she hits the end of the drive and shifts it into drive. She raises one finger lazily and grins when she hears Wynonna shout back at her.

She follows Rt. 81 towards the town line points and her car towards the nearly-midday sun.

 _Waverly_ , she thinks. _Just a few hours stands between me and Waverly._

She raises her voice and starts screaming along with Lenny Wolf.

 

-

Nicole drops her duffel on the floor, off to the side of the door, and runs a shaking hand through her hair. She tugs nervously at her uniform shirt, suddenly wondering if she should have even worn it.

“You look so clutch in this,” Waverly had told her once, her fingers climbing a staggeringly slow path up the buttons from Nicole’s waistline to her collar. Waverly had grinned and replaced her fingers with her mouth as they smoothed across Nicole’s neck, just below where her collar brushed.

She brushes some lint off her pants and takes a deep breath. She glances up and down the hallway. A boy with jeans a few sizes too big and a sideways baseball cap stares at her, his mouth hanging open.

Nicole straightens her shoulders, rests her hands on her duty belt, and narrows her eyes. “Is there a problem?”

“No,” he squeaks.

She nods sharply. “Then move along.”

He scrambles down the rest of the hallway and disappears around a corner. Nicole grins widely and smoothes her shirt out one more time before she raises a fist and knocks on the wooden door in front of her.

" _Coming!”_ someone inside yells.

Nicole swallows heavily as the knob twists and opens.

Eliza grins at her for a second before she settles into her role, blocking most of the doorway. Just over her shoulder, Nicole can make out Waverly’s legs, stretched out on a twin-sized bed in the corner.

“What can I do for you?” Eliza asks. She glances back over her shoulder.

Waverly doesn’t even look up from her book.

Nicole clears her throat. “Uh…” She panics. This was a bad idea. She should have just showed up like a normal person, but she had to make a plan and try and impress Waverly and now she’s standing in a hallway in her uniform and Waverly won’t even look up from her book.

“Officer?” Eliza prompts.

Nicole catches movement out of the corner of her eye: Waverly, turning a page. “Yeah,” Nicole says loudly. “I mean, _yes_. I’m looking for, uh, Waverly Earp?”

Eliza takes a step back into the room, her body angled out so Nicole can see past her to Waverly, still wrapped up in her book. She’s in Nicole’s old flannel, the blue and black one that Waverly had stolen three Christmases ago, and a pair of denim shorts. Her hair is up, a side ponytail with a black scrunchie that falls over one shoulder. She has a pen tucked behind one ear.

Nicole forgets the plan. She knows she’s supposed to throw out some line about Waverly’s license expiring, but Waverly’s legs are long and bare and she’s biting down on her bottom lip as she turns the pages and Nicole just forgets what she’s supposed to be doing.

“Hi, baby,” she breathes out.

Waverly looks up at that. It takes a second for her brain to catch up to what her eyes are seeing, but then she’s squealing and dropping her book to the floor with a _thud_ and vaulting from her bed, landing unsteadily on her feet.

“Nicole,” she says.

Nicole lifts her hand. “Hey?”

Waverly runs the few feet between them and jumps. Nicole catches her easily, muscle memory from the fall of 1987, when _Dirty Dancing_ came out and Waverly immediately wanted to be able to do the lift. She had made Nicole be Patrick Swayze, catching her over and over again until Nicole’s arms gave out and they went crashing hard onto the lawn outside of the McCready house. Now, Nicole’s arms are stronger and they’re starved for Waverly. She catches Waverly and she holds on tight.

“What are you doing here?” Waverly asks when Nicole puts her back down. She runs her hands across Nicole’s shoulders and up into her hair. Nicole settles her hands on the small of Waverly’s back. “You- _Oh no_. Your retreat.”

Nicole grins crookedly. “Baby, there is no retreat.”

“There isn’t…” Waverly frowns. “But…” She looks back at Eliza. “Did you know about this?”

Eliza grins, her arms crossed over her chest as she leans back against her desk. “Me and the good Officer here have had this planned since move-in day.”

“I’ve had it planned since longer,” Nicole adds. She slides her hand to the back of Waverly’s neck and tips her head back just enough so she can see all of Waverly’s face. “But Eliza has been hella helpful.”

Waverly’s eyes are wide and glassy. “I can’t believe…” She trails off, her voice soft. “You’re _here_.”

“Happy Birthday,” Nicole breathes out before she closes the distance between them, pressing her lips to Waverly’s.

Waverly drags out the kiss, sucking hard on Nicole’s bottom lip. Her hands wind through Nicole’s hair, pulling her closer until Nicole feels them moving across the room. She can hear someone clear their throat and feels her face turn red as she slows the kiss. She presses her forehead to Waverly’s, unable to stop smiling.

“I think that’s my cue,” Eliza starts.

“No,” Nicole says quickly. She slides her arm around Waverly’s shoulders and pulls her into her side. “No. We have a plan. We’re going out.”

Waverly’s fingers slip into her back pocket. “We are?”

A part of Nicole, the part that hasn’t seen Waverly in almost three weeks, says _no_ ; they’re going to stay in and Nicole is going to pull that scrunchie out of Waverly’s hair and wind it around the doorknob and ask Eliza to stay somewhere else for the night. But another part of her, the one that wants to follow Waverly around campus and visit all the places she’s always talking about, wins, and she nods.

“We are.”

Waverly’s eyes flash. “Are you wearing this?”

Nicole clears her throat nervously and shakes her head. “I, uh, I brought a change of clothes.”

“Too bad,” Waverly coos. She tucks a finger into Nicole’s waistband and tugs. “You look bitchin’ in this.”

Nicole exhales shakily. “Right.” She meets Eliza’s eyes and knows her face is bright red.

Eliza bites down on her lip to stop herself from laughing. “I’m going to give you guys a minute while I see who’s coming out.” She pauses in the doorway. “Make sure you put on whatever you take off.”

Nicole buries her face in her hands as the door clicks shut. “Oh, god. That was embarrassing.”

Waverly is quiet.

Nicole looks up and frowns. “Babe, what’s wrong?” She runs a hand along the end of Waverly’s ponytail.

“You drove all the way up here. Just for my birthday.” Waverly reaches for Nicole’s hand in her hair, stilling it. “Just for me.”

Nicole smiles softly, tugging Waverly closer. “Don’t you know how much I’d do _just for you_ , Waverly Earp?” She leans down, their foreheads touching.

“I do,” Waverly breathes out.

 _Save those words for later_ , Nicole thinks. The thought stops her for a moment.

“Let’s get you out of this uniform,” Waverly continues, her voice still soft. Her hands shake a little as they reach for the top button. Nicole puts her hand over Waverly’s, squeezing gently. “No, let me,” Waverly murmurs.

She undoes them slowly, slipping each button through the placket so that the backs of her knuckles brush across the tank top Nicole is wearing underneath. She pulls the shirt loose from Nicole’s belt and pushes it off her shoulders and lets it fall to the ground. Waverly bites down on her lip and looks up at Nicole through her lashes as her hands drifts to Nicole’s belt.

She takes the duty belt and puts it down on Eliza’s desk carefully. Nicole’s body shifts as the weight is lifted off of her. Waverly’s hands drift back to Nicole’s waist.

Nicole inhales sharply. Waverly’s fingers are cold through the thin fabric of her tank top. They slip behind her waistband, pushing the button out of place. She reaches for the zipper, pulling it down, when someone knocks on the door and yells ' _Waverly’_. Nicole jumps, laughing nervously as she takes a shaky step back from Waverly. She runs a hand through her hair.

“I’ll just… I’ll do the rest.”

Waverly’s lips push out in a pout. “Fine,” she sighs. “Wait. Do you have to drive back tonight?”

Nicole curses and pulls the door open, reaching for her duffel bag. The same kid from before is walking by again, rapping along to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” as he pulls up his jeans. Nicole rolls her eyes and closes the door, tossing her duffel onto Waverly’s bed.

“I was going to stay, if that’s okay with you?” she asks hopefully.

Waverly grins widely. “This is, like, the raddest birthday ever.”

Nicole smiles widely and pulls her Oxfords off, tucking them carefully into her duffel. She hands her uniform pants to Waverly and leans back against Waverly’s bed, watching as Waverly drapes her uniform shirt over a hanger, folding her pants and hanging them too. Waverly stretches up on her tiptoes to rest the hanger on the top of the door leading to the closet.

Waverly turns and sighs softly. “The dreams I’ve had of you standing in my dorm room in your underwear…”

Nicole flushes and reaches down into her bag, pulling out her jeans, a white shirt, and her Red Wings.

Waverly peers down at the bag. “Did you bring an iron?”

Nicole half-heartedly tosses one of her Red Wings at Waverly. “Go to hell.”

Waverly smiles cheekily and then groans as Nicole slides into her jeans. “Goodbye, legs.”

Nicole laughs and loops an arm around Waverly’s waist, pulling her close. Her jeans are still unbuttoned and Nicole can feel the metal pressing uncomfortably into her stomach but it feels even better to be this close, to have Waverly within arm's reach.

“I just…” Waverly trails off. She plucks the fabric of Nicole’s tank. “You’re right _here_.”

“I know.”

“And I feel like I already can't get… _enough_ of you,” Waverly admits softly.

“I know,” Nicole breathes out.

“I don't want to go out with people. I want to stay here, with you, all night.”

Nicole kisses Waverly softly, their lips barely brushing. “We’re going to have all night, just you and me. I promise.”

Waverly kisses her again. “But Eliza-”

“Is staying with Earl for the night,” Nicole interrupts.

Waverly grins widely and the next kiss is a little harder, a little messier. “You thought of everything.”

Nicole shrugs. “I tried to.”

Waverly steps back and Nicole buttons her jeans, taking the white shirt Waverly hands her. She tucks it in and ignores the way Waverly starts to laugh at her when she pulls the closet door open to look in the full-length mirror hanging there. Waverly slips behind her, grabbing a pair of flip flops from the closet and sliding them on. Nicole adjusts her shirt, unhappy with the way it looks. She pulls it out and tucks it back in again and sighs. Waverly stands next to to her for a moment, taking the ends of the flannel and tying them in a knot over her stomach.

Butterflies erupt in Nicole’s stomach.

Waverly’s hands slip around her waist, her chin digging into Nicole’s shoulder blade. “I think that was Eliza earlier. Probably means she’s ready.”

Nicole turns, keeping Waverly’s arms in place, and rests her chin on Waverly’s forehead. “Then we better get going. You wearing that?” she asks, thumbing the collar of the flannel Waverly is wearing.

Waverly leans her head back to see Nicole’s face. “I wear it all the time.”

Something blooms inside of Nicole’s chest. She kisses Waverly softly and untangles herself, fishing through bag one last time to grab her Ray Bans, sliding them over her eyes and then up into her hair. She holds out a hand.

Waverly laces their fingers tighter and drags her through the dorm hall, stopping to introduce Nicole to everyone they see. Nicole meets all of the people on Waverly’s floor, wrinkling her nose when she meets Matthew - who is exactly as Champ-like as Waverly described him - and finally putting a face to everything she’s heard about Earl.

Nicole throws her arm over Waverly’s shoulder as they settle into a booth, some of them spilling out into the tables nearby.

“And then Waverly told Killer Miller that he could _get bent_ and she wasn’t doing the assignment over because he lost it,” Eliza finishes. A waitress puts their drinks down on the table, dodging waving arms.

Nicole picks up her bottle of beer and holds it out in front of her. She waits a second as everyone else does the same.

“To Waverly Earp,’ she says.

“To Waverly Earp,” everyone echoes.

Waverly, tucked into her side, ducks her head slightly, pressing it into Nicole’s arm. “Thanks,” she mumbles. She holds up her own glass, a margarita, and tips it in acknowledgement.

Nicole puts her bottle to her mouth but waits while Waverly takes her first sip.

" _Oh_ ,” Waverly breathes out. She looks up at Nicole, her eyes wide. “I like that.”

Nicole laughs loudly.

“So why do you call him _Killer Miller_?”

Everyone starts talking at once. When the waitress comes back, Nicole orders the whole table another round.

 

-

Waverly slides a hand under Nicole’s shirt, following the curve of her hip. Nicole shivers and grabs at Waverly’s hand self-consciously, glancing at Eliza walking next to them.

“Waves,” she murmurs.

Waverly laces their fingers together.

Nicole tries to smooth down her shirt but Waverly has untucked it in some places and not others so it stays just as wrinkled and trapped between their bodies. Waverly leans heavily into her side, her free hand dancing along Nicole’s ribs.

“Baby,” she tries again.

Waverly stops walking abruptly. Nicole’s arm jerks where it’s still connected to Waverly’s.

“What is it?” Nicole asks.

Waverly stares at her with wide eyes. She reaches up slowly, sliding a hand along Nicole’s jaw. “You are _so_ pretty and I like you _so_ much,” she murmurs.

“You’re drunk,” Nicole laughs.

Waverly shrugs one shoulder. “I like margaritas.”

“I know you do, baby.” Nicole tugs gently on Waverly’s hand. “Just a little further and then we’ll be at your room, okay?”

It’s a slow walk but they make it to the building and up the stairs, Waverly sleep-heavy as they climb the stairs. Eliza holds open the door to their room, giving Nicole a smile before gliding down the hall and slipping into Earl’s room.

" _I_ _think we’re alone now_ ,” Waverly starts to sing. She’s off-key and swaying. " _There doesn’t seem to be anyone around_.”

Nicole laughs, untying the ends of the flannel Waverly is wearing. “Someone better call Tiffany and tell her you’re a way better singer than she is.”

Waverly swats at her shoulder. “I am a _fantastic_ singer.” She grabs a hairbrush off her dresser and spins in a lazy circle. " _Children behave, that’s what they say when we’re together,_ ” she sings.

Nicole grabs her around the waist and pulls her close. “I think you’re a little out of order there, baby.”

“Don’t be such a hoser,” Waverly grumbles. She pulls at Nicole’s shirt. “When do you take this off?”

Nicole snickers. “In the morning, when you’re sober.”

Waverly huffs. “That’s not fair.” She tugs at Nicole’s shirt again. “I just want to _look_.”

Nicole sighs and takes a few steps back, reaching for the bottom of her shirt. Waverly’s eyes follow her hands slowly and Nicole fights a grin as she lifts one side of her shirt before dropping it again.

Waverly groans. " _Baby_ ,” she drags out. She holds up her hands, her face as serious as she can make it, her cheeks flushed with alcohol. “I promise I will only look. I won't try to touch your tubular abs.”

Nicole snickers. " _Tubular_ abs.” She rolls her eyes. “God, you're lucky you're so smart.”

“The smartest,” Waverly breathes out. “I have a 4.0.  _And_ I told Killer Miller to get bent.”

“I heard all about it, baby. You're a true hero.”

“What do I get?”

Nicole rolls her eyes. She grabs the end of her shirt again and tugs it up and over her head in one smooth motion, dropping on the floor next to her.

Waverly nods, a satisfied smile on her face. “How're you _so_ pretty?”

Nicole grabs for Waverly again, pulling her close and pressing a soft kiss to Waverly’s cheek.

Waverly’s hands are hot on her bare skin as they slide over the curve of her hips to the small of her back. They tickle along her spine.

“You okay, baby?” Nicole murmurs, kissing behind Waverly’s ear.

Waverly hums and her hands go higher on Nicole’s back. “I'm _so_ glad you're here. This is…” She sighs. “This is the best birthday I've _ever_ had.”

Nicole works Waverly’s flannel over her shoulders and onto the floor. She hooks her finger behind the button on Waverly’s jean shorts and pushes them down. “Even better than that year Curtis took you to the museum _and_ the aquarium on the same day?”

Waverly leans in, her voice low. “Even. Better.”

“That's a pretty big time deal, Waves,” Nicole breathes.

Waverly smiles lazily. “It's because you're _aces,_  baby.”

Nicole grins and grabs Waverly by the hips, lifting her the foot up and onto the bed behind her.

Waverly lands with a soft _'o_ _of_ _'_ and sprawls back, her arms and legs everywhere. Nicole kicks off her Red Wings, then her jeans, and climbs up next to Waverly, pushing at her until there's enough room for Nicole to lay down.

Waverly rolls into her side, filling all the empty space against her.

Waverly sighs. “I want this,” she murmurs, her mouth moving against Nicole’s bare shoulder.

Nicole turns her head, trailing her hand up and down Waverly’s arm. “What?”

“You and me, together. Every night.” She slides her hand across Nicole’s stomach, thumbing her hipbone. “Just like this.”

Nicole presses her lips to Waverly’s forehead. “Soon, baby. After you finish school.”

Waverly smiles sleepily. “You want that?”

“Of course I do,” Nicole breathes out.

“Me too.” Waverly pushes up on one arm, still leaning heavily against Nicole’s ribs. “You’re all I’ve _ever_ wanted.”

Nicole tucks a loose strand of hair behind Waverly’s ear and smiles softly. " _You’re_ all I’ve ever wanted, too.” She grabs at the blanket half-under her and wrestles with it for a moment.

Waverly lays down next to her, her forehead on Nicole’s shoulder and her arm around Nicole’s waist.

Nicole arranges the blanket so it's draped over her and Waverly. “I love you,” she breathes out against Waverly’s forehead.

“I love you, too,” Waverly murmurs sleepily.

Nicole smiles softly. “Happy Birthday, Waverly Earp.”


End file.
